Mobile handset subsidy not in the cardsPosted: 04-Jun-2003 [Source: The Korea Herald]

[Korea unlikely to allow mobile handset subsidies.]

"The Ministry of Information and Communication sparked confusion over the ban on mobile handset subsidies again, with its minister making an ambiguous comment that might disappoint the slump-laden market.

"The revised telecommunication law is aimed at blocking carriers from offering handset subsidies," Information Minister Chin Dae-je told reporters in his first monthly press briefing Tuesday.

He argued that the principle of the law is to ban subsidies, noting that loosening up the regulation is not desirable."